Life is finally settling back to normal (you can tell by the huge pile of laundry sitting at the bottom of my stairs, waiting to be sorted and moved to the laundry room!), so finally I get to tell you about our vacation two weeks ago! It took me this long due to the week of living without electricity (thanks, Ike!) and a week jam-packed with recovering from same plus babysitting my grandson who was feeling punky with another head and chest cold.
Our vacation was FAB U LUSS! To be honest, beforehand I was a little nervous about having Brayden for four solid days, which included two long car trips (his first) to and from the house we rented. Silly me. I will say, in all honesty, that Mr. Brayden Lee was a complete angel baby for the entire time. Not one nano-second of fussing or temper tantrums or get-into's. He was one bundle of joy and laughter. He had no problem sleeping in a strange bed or house, no problem adhering to the rules we set as soon as we got there, no problem on hikes in the woods or going into museums! How can that be? But I digress...
Lots of photos to share. On the way to the rental (Lake Logan, OH), Jeff and I agreed we would stop one hour into the trip, to give Brayden a chance to get out, run around, expend some energy, get a drink and a snack (he's not allowed to eat in the car - I'm sorry, but I LIKE a clean car!) and give us a chance to stretch our legs as well.
We arrived in the area of Lake Logan about two hours prior to "check in time" at the house, but we'd pre-planned this so we could take Brayden to the county fair and have some fun BEFORE getting to the house to unpack the car and settle into the house. Honestly, we just plain hoped to tire him out before we got to the rental so he'd sleep good that first night.
Brayden is going to be one of THOSE kids who loves amusement parks. His first "big ride" was on the ferris wheel with Umpa. By the second revolution of the wheel, Umpa had taught him to put his hands up in the air roller-coaster-style! There were only three rides we could go on with him -- the Ferris Wheel, the Merry-Go-Round and the Tea Cups, so we did all those first because he wasn't interested in going on anything by himself and we certainly didn't push him about it -- he's only two!
But soon enough, he was asking to go on the little kid rides ALONE! I was a little hesitant (he's so little!), but the guy doing the ride assured me he would stop the ride of Brayden freaked out, so off he went. I'm watching him go around on this little Scrambler, and what do I see? His little arms going up in the air just like Umpa showed him!
It was very hot at the fair, so we grabbed some cold drinks and sandwiches and sat down in a shelter for awhile to get out of the sun. The Golden Child is NOT a Golden Child when it comes to eating and the best he would do is lick the ketchup off a corn dog. I've never seen a child less willing to try one bite of something new...
And it was finally time to get to the
vacation house. This is a wonderful rental home we've been to before, and most definitely will go to again and again. Honestly, it feels like "home". We spent most of our time outdoors swinging on the porch swing or out on the HUGE deck (where Brayden mastered tricycle riding).
I unpacked the food and got dinner cooking, while Jeff took Brayden to the lake for his first beach experience -- unfortunately without the camera. Jeff said it took Brayden all of 30 seconds to plop into the water and go under, and that he loved every minute of "swimming" in the lake with Umpa. Dinner was ready when they returned , then it was time to let Brayden explore the house, set some rules about what he could and could not touch and where he could and could not go on his own, etc. (Kids don't know these things automatically! It always pays to explain things and give the child an opportunity to learn the rules, rather than waiting for them to do something "wrong" and say, "No! Don't do that!".) Then it was time for some hot tubbing (I'd turned the temp down to 96 when we first arrived at the house), and off to bed.
The next day we headed to the local tourist information place, which was really fun on it's own. There was a huge waterwheel outside, which Brayden enjoyed, and several gardens to walk through.
Then we were off on our first hike! The hike was about 1/2 mile long, with LOTS of steps and winding paths along a beautiful river, down into a canyon-type rock formation to view the area's largest waterfall. Unfortunately, the waterfall wasn't much more than a trickle, but it was still a wonderful spot. Before we headed back UP all those steps, we had a snack of bananas and peanut butter crackers, with bottles of water. Two opportunities came up - the first to teach Brayden about ECHOES (which he tried in my kitchen yesterday without good results), and the next about cleaning up our trash when we went out in the woods.
Back to the house by 3pm for a quick nap time (for both Jeff and Brayden), and some time to spend out on the huge deck overlooking the lake. The best part of this deck is that it is totally fenced in with either railings or fence, and it was approximately 18 x 30! Brayden could ride his tricycle to his heart's content, while we sat out and enjoyed some relaxing time and fresh air.
One view from the deck
As darkness arrived, Jeff started a campfire in the fire pit. Brayden helped find sticks to cook marshmellows, which turned out to be ONE of the few foods he'll eat. LOL Since it was almost bedtime, I had to limit him to three -- I think he would have eaten the entire bag.
On Day Three we decided to take Brayden on a train ride - great choice! As with most boys his age, he's quite taken by trains (thanks to Thomas), and was so excited to be riding on a real "big big BIG" train. It was a two hour ride, with a 20 minute stop at a local pioneer village park.
After the ride we went into the VERY small and VERY crowded gift shop. I picked out a t-shirt for Brayden and a small plastic wind-up train locomotive. As we were waiting in line for the cash register, he spotted a small Railroad Crossing sign he seemed quite mesmerized by. "Umma - look!" I quietly had the cashier add the sign in as well. When we got to the car, I showed him the shirt (he was as excited as kids get about shirts - not much) and the little locomotive (he loved that he could wind it and watch the gears turn inside), and then brought out the little railroad crossing sign. "Oh, THANK YOU Umma!" I swear. He was so excited. $2.49 can go a long way with a two year old.
After the train ride, we saw a small local VFW military museum and decided to go in and investigate. It was a local Civil War Museum and we were the only visitors. When we got in the door, I talked with Brayden for just a minute to lay out the rules -- look, but don't touch; use your inside voice; stay with us; no fingers on the glass cases. I was so proud of him! He walked around and looked at things without touching. He asked questions (2 yr old style -- "what's that?") and listened to the answers. As we were leaving the gentleman in the museum brought over an small American flag and gave it to Brayden and told him how well behaved he was! This little flag is now one of his treasures.
Our last afternoon was spent at the house. Jeff and Brayden took a nice walk along the lake (again, without camera), while I sat on the deck with a cup of coffee and a good book. The driveway to the house is VERY steep (honestly, it's scarey steep), which Brayden got a huge kick out of. He loves climbing up and down steep hills!
I actually took a movie of his going up and down this hill, but every time Brayden saw me with my camera, he'd stop whatever he was doing and get this big silly grin on his face and say CHEESE! Doesn't make for a good movie!
We ordered dinner from a local restaurant that night -- wonderful BBQ Brisket for me, and Pulled Pork for Jeff, with side dishes of baked beans, macaroni and cheese, and cole slaw. Brayden doesn't eat meat of any kind (that he knows about), but did chow down on the macaroni and cheese, tried some baked beans, and ate a corn muffin.
After dinner we headed back out on the deck, and Brayden rode his bike. We were all actually quite tired, and no nap that day for Brayden. He asked a few times if Jeff would take him up and down the "steep steep STEEP driveway", and Jeff had said "Maybe in a few minutes." I said, "Brayden, we're all feeling really tired and just need to relax for a little while." He nodded his head and understood and didn't bother Jeff again. He knew HE was tired, and I guess it made sense that Umma and Umpa might be tired too. You actually CAN reason with a two year old.
We had to leave by 11am the next morning, and everyone slept in until 9am, so I was scurrying a bit to get everything packed back up. Jeff took Brayden out for another walk along the lake while I packed, then came back and loaded the car while I took Brayden outside to play. By 11am we were ready to hit the road. We made one last stop at the Waterwheel, and headed home.
Four days is apparently the perfect length for a vacation with a two year old. He was definitely missing his Mom, and we were definitely all tired and ready to go home. I'm already thinking that May might be a good month to make the next reservations at our home away from home! I think we provided Brayden with some wonderful memories of his first vacation. He still talks about the Waterwheel and the "steep steep STEEP driveway". I don't think we'd have had nearly as much fun or giggles or tugging of the heart strings if we'd taken vacation without him!
Hey, c'mon in! How nice to see you! I'm so glad you're here. Of course, I always love it when a friend stops by my house for coffee in the morning! I just made a fresh pot, so let's go in the kitchen...
Sit down, sit down... Hope you don't mind strong coffee because that's the way I make it! What do you take in yours? Milk? Hmmm.. I have Half & Half or Cream, but the only milk I have is no-fat made from powdered milk -- is that OK? Jeff and I use so little milk that I don't like to buy it anymore because I just end up throwing it away. So every few days I just make 2 cups of milk from powdered milk, in case he wants a late night bowl of cereal. Milk is just too expensive to throw it away!
Look at this -- I got a hand-written letter from my sister Sarah yesterday. I just love the fact that she still hand writes letters and isn't dependent on email! She's fine. She wrote the letter during her lunch hour at work... 
I do feel a little bad for her. She and her husband work SO hard and they are loving, giving parents who would do anything for their kids. Unfortunately, those kids are adults now and take advantage of Sarah's big heart. They all still live at home, move their friends in and out of the house like it's a hotel, bring pets in like it's an animal shelter, and expect Sarah and her husband to foot the bill. But Sarah's a smart girl. She'll get tired of being taken advantage of eventually and set some boundaries and give 'em all the boot. The one thing about adult kids is that if you make their home life too easy, they'll never stand on their own or take care of themselves. I've been there! It's a tough thing to do, but I have faith Sarah will see the light and give 'em all a deadline to move out. I can hear her frustration in her letters already.
Isn't this weather gorgeous? Don't you just love the Fall? I should spend at least part of the day outside moving around some perennials, especially down in that front garden where the little wishing well is. Want to hear something funny? Yesterday Brayden and I went outside to see Jeff off to work, and my next-door-neighbor and his family were all standing in front of my little garden taking pictures! LOL! They are from Marakesh and it was a big holiday for them, so they were taking photos of everyone all dressed up. I said, "You're taking photos of my weeds??" LOL But his wife said, "Your garden is so beautiful." Since their house looks over that little garden, I was happy they thought so! I'm sure my other neighbor, the gardener, thinks I'm just plain lazy when she sees all the weeds out there!
Brayden? He's doing great. I babysat for him yesterday. I love watching his personality develop. He's SO funny. That child has an amazing sense of humor AND amazing perseverance and he's really observant of things going on around him. Yesterday he and I were sitting down on "the dock" (that's the little deck with the two bench seats down by the creek. We call it "the dock" because a friend of ours in Maine has a 40+ foot sailboat and we told him we built a dock so he could sail over for a visit!) and Brayden collected rocks to throw in the water -- a favorite pasttime. He picked up some very small pebbles, and held them in his hand and said, "Umma, here's some Motrin. I'm going to take my medicine and then sit down for just a few minutes and my back will feel all better." (cough) OK, guess I need to stop complaining about my back problems around him! LOL
Later we were in the house and I was cleaning up the kitchen. Brayden had opened up the toy box (that's the coffee table that has storage in it) and gotten out a gyroscope I had in there. Not a little kid gyroscope, but a vintage metal gyroscope that you have to thread a string through a very narrow hole, hold onto the string and wind the string around the post of the gyroscope very carefully. It's tricky to do at best. It got very quiet in the family room, so I looked in to check on him, and he was sitting on the floor, very focused on that gyroscope. I didn't bother him. I looked in again a few minutes later -- same scenario. A few minutes later, I walked in and he proudly held up the gyroscope and there it was -- perfectly wound up! I can't tell you how impressed I was! He wasn't coordinated enough to hold the gyroscope and pull the string, so I did it for him. And he rewound that string two more times! Two years old with that kind of perserverance? I was really proud of him and told him so. I have often told him, when he's trying something new and having difficulty, to "try, try again.." and maybe, just maybe, he was listening :)
Jeff's doing good, thanks for asking. This is his "Hell Week" at work, so he's working from 7am to at least midnight, grabbing a few hours sleep and going right 
back for more. Thankfully, he only works these kind of hours 4 times a year and it's all part of being in a major corporation's top accounting department. I consider it a bit of a mini-vacation for me, since I don't have to cook dinner AND I get to watch whatever I want on TV at night! LOL Last night I sat and worked on some hand embroidery and watched America's Top Model. The embroidery is for a "Twelve Days of Christmas" quilt I have in my head. I like having some kind of hand work to do while watching TV. Doesn't feel like such a waste of time that way! I know! Do you just love the footstool?! That's an old stool from a shoe store -- the kind you used to put your feet on so the sales person could measure your foot! I know, I know - those days are sure gone, aren't they?
I see you looking at Granny. Jeff gave her to me for Christmas a few years ago and I just love her. She's called a "smoker". If you put a little cone of incense under her chair, smoke comes out of her mouth! I just love her. I'd really like to collect them. Guess I should check Ebay more.
Oh? You have to get going so soon? Well, I've just talked your ear off, haven't I?! I'm really glad you stopped by -- and hope you'll do it again soon! Let me walk you out to your car -- and I'll get the trashcans at the end of the driveway and put them in the garage while I'm out there. Maybe getting outside will encourage me to get out and do some of that weeding I was talking about!
Bye bye now! You take care! C'mon back anytime! I just love having company for coffee!
